{"id":147756,"date":"2026-07-23T14:03:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ronald-ngala-utalii-college-to-open-sep-1-with-first-cohort-of-1000-students\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:03:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:03:05","slug":"ronald-ngala-utalii-college-to-open-sep-1-with-first-cohort-of-1000-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ronald-ngala-utalii-college-to-open-sep-1-with-first-cohort-of-1000-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronald Ngala Utalii College to open Sep 1 with first cohort of 1,000 students"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 23 \u2013 Tourism Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has announced the planned opening of the Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Kilifi on September 1, 2026, with the institution set to welcome its first cohort of 1,000 students after decades of planning and delays.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking during an inspection tour of the campus on Thursday, Bitok said preparations for the maiden intake were almost complete, with the government putting the final logistical arrangements in place ahead of the launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can confirm that we are 95 percent ready to welcome the first cohort of 1,000 students on September 1. We have put all the necessary arrangements in place to make this a reality,\u201d Bitok said.<\/p>\n

The opening marks a major milestone for Kenya\u2019s tourism and maritime training sectors, bringing to fruition a project that has been in the pipeline for more than three decades.<\/p>\n

The institution was first approved under President Daniel arap Moi\u2019s administration through Cabinet Minute 30\/1996 on February 1, 1996, as a coastal campus of Kenya Utalii College. However, the project was shelved because of budgetary constraints.<\/p>\n

It was revived under President Mwai Kibaki\u2019s administration on September 13, 2007, as a flagship Kenya Vision 2030 project. Although implementation began in March 2010, the college faced more than a decade of delays before reaching operational readiness.<\/p>\n

Bitok described the institution as a modern counterpart to Nairobi Utalii College, saying it will gradually expand to accommodate up to 4,000 students.<\/p>\n

The college will offer diploma programmes, short courses and management refresher programmes in hospitality, hotel management, catering and seafaring, targeting skills needed in Kenya\u2019s tourism and blue economy sectors.<\/p>\n

The PS said the government is also considering a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to fast-track the completion and operation of a tourist-class training hotel within the campus, where students will gain practical industry experience.<\/p>\n

The project is expected to create at least 1,000 direct and indirect jobs while supporting the government\u2019s target of attracting five million tourists annually by 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to building the capacity required for tourism and hospitality. The opening of this institution will go a long way in helping us achieve our target of five million tourists by 2028,\u201d Bitok said.<\/p>\n

Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung\u2019aro welcomed the opening, saying it would create opportunities for young people pursuing careers in the blue economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recently had recruiters looking for 600 seafarers, but only 59 qualified because many lacked the necessary certification,\u201d Mung\u2019aro said.<\/p>\n

He said the institution would help bridge the skills gap by producing internationally competitive graduates for Kenya\u2019s hospitality and maritime industries.<\/p>\n

Both Bitok and Mung\u2019aro also urged political leaders to avoid remarks that could harm Kenya\u2019s tourism image.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge leaders to weigh their words when speaking about tourism because it is a very delicate industry. What we have built over many years can be destroyed in a single day by reckless remarks,\u201d Mung\u2019aro said.<\/p>\n

This structure is more in line with standard news writing: news first, context second. Readers immediately get the announcement before being taken through the project\u2019s long history.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 23 \u2013 Tourism Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has announced the planned opening of the Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Kilifi on September 1, 2026, with the institution set to welcome its first cohort of 1,000 students after decades of planning and delays. Speaking during an inspection tour of the campus on Thursday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}